A freedom I really value now is being able to travel on my own. I'm a twenty-six-year-old marketing executive in Riyadh, and when I was growing up, it was unthinkable for me to go anywhere without a family member driving me.
I first got this freedom a few years ago, when I got my driving licence, which was a huge moment for me and for a lot of women in Saudi Arabia. I still remember my first solo drive, just to a café about ten minutes from our house. My hands were shaking, but I felt incredibly proud.
Now I use it in all sorts of ways. I drive myself to work every day instead of waiting for my brother or paying a driver. At weekends I meet friends, go to the gym or visit my grandmother without needing to organise it around anyone else's schedule. Last spring I even drove with two friends to AlUla, which took a whole day, and we explored the rock formations together. That trip would have been impossible when I was a girl.
This freedom has changed my life more than I expected. Practically, it's saved me lots of time and money, and it's made it possible for me to take a job across the city that I really wanted. But the bigger change is in how I see myself. I feel more independent and more responsible, because I'm making my own decisions about where to go and when. My parents were nervous at first, but now my father asks me to drive him, which always makes me smile.